菁

A phono-semantic compound:

艸 — grass, plants (semantic element)

靑 (청) — blue-green, clear, fresh (phonetic elemen)

The original sense is lush, fresh vegetation, especially edible leafy greens. From the visual idea of dense, vivid greenery, meanings such as flourishing, refined, and brilliant developed.

청채 (菁菜) — leafy greens; vegetables

청화 (菁華) — essence; the finest part; intellectual elite

청영 (菁英) — elite; outstanding people

청청 (菁菁) — luxuriant; flourishing (literary)

In East Asian literature, lush plants often symbolize:

- youth

- vitality

- moral or intellectual excellence

Thus 菁 bridges nature imagery and human cultivation.

Related characters:

靑 / 青 — blue-green; fresh; pure

精 — essence; refined spirit

華 — splendor; blossom

英 — flower; outstanding talent

Together they form compounds such as 菁英, 菁華.

Closely related to 精, though:

菁 retains a vegetative / organic nuance

精 is more abstract and metaphysical

Classical citations:

Poetry (Book of Odes, 詩經) — Shijing (詩經)

「菁菁者莪，在彼中阿」

“Luxuriant are the mugwort greens, growing on the central slopes.”

Here 菁菁 vividly describes dense, flourishing vegetation, and by extension, youthful vitality.

Later Confucian prose

「取其菁華而用之」

“One should take its essence and make use of it.”

In this usage, 菁華 means the refined core rather than literal plants.

Buddhist exegetical style

「擇法之菁，捨其糟粕」

“Select the essence of the Dharma and discard the dregs.”

菁 here denotes what is pure, refined, and spiritually valuable.